Putting a backpack in a large rice sack or specially made nylon sack is a great way of not only tidying away the handles, but also deterring potential thieves.

Got any travel tips for the Beetle? Then e-mail them to: the Beetle

Holly, originally from Austin, Texas but now living in Newfoundland is hoping that readers of the e-newsletter may be able to help her research for her doctoral thesis. Her thesis explores the ways in which individuals experience food as part of travel in Atlantic Canada.

Holly has a short survey that anyone who has visited any of Canada's Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador) can complete. There's also a web page that people can have a look at to find out more about her project, if they wish or, you can email Holly with any questions. To contact Holly for preliminary questions, and returning any completed surveys, is drpepper@warp.nfld.net

Interview topics may include: 1) food choices at home and while travelling; 2) lifestyle considerations influencing food preferences; 3) extent of travel experience; 4) and expectations of travel. The data obtained from interviews and observation will form the basis of the thesis, and may also be used in published articles and/or book chapters, class lectures and public presentations. Anonymity will be maintained for any participants who wish it.

The Seychelles are in the Indian Ocean, 1,000 miles away from the African coast and the island of Mauritius. The capital is Victoria on the largest island of Mahe (17 miles by 5 miles) and they are about 11 hours flying time from London.

They consist of 115 tropical islands with some amazing wildlife, for example, the huge tortoises that freely roam some islands. The people of the Seychelles are called the Seychellois and are a mix of Creole, Indian, Chinese, French and British. It is not an easy or cheap country to travel around cheaply and most of the food is imported, making it quite expensive to eat too.

A useless fact: the local beer is called Seybrew!

Paula would be grateful for some help or advice: she is a single female aged 43 and a diabetic who wants information on travel to Ireland. She is planning a trip either next August or December. She is interested in music, Irish culture, meeting Reform Jews in the area and would be grateful for any advice on the best places to visit. If you are a music lover please tell her where the best CD stores are and where she can hear the finest Irish music. She is interested in classical music, Irish folk, pub music and pop.

She also wants information on safe accommodations, diabetic food spots, where the nicest Jewish temples are and best times to visit.

Please e-mail or write to: Paula Hurwitz, 7545 Murray Hill Road, #832, Columbia, MD 21046 or e-mail phurwitz@erols.com

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

They really do have long memories! Research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that elephants have very long memories, large brains and are highly emotional. Orang-utans are the cleverest of non human primates and can perform complex tasks such as opening doors by choosing the right key from a bunch of keys. Squirrels have a brain proportionally 1.5 times bigger than humans and can remember where they have buried 10,000 nuts!

Have you got £15 million to spare? There have been two space tourists so far: 61-year-old American businessman Dennis Tito paid to go into space on a Russian space vessel. Mark Shuttleworth the South African business tycoon has just finished his week's training and is set to become the world's second paying space traveller when he visits the International Space Station aboard a Russian ship in April.

Up until now, NASA has opposed private individuals paying to go into space. Until now, that is. NASA has now published a set of rules which all potential space travellers must meet before being allowed into a spacecraft.

NASA's chief astronaut, Charles Precourt, who helped draw up the rules, said: 'We don't want to embarrass our space partners by having [a tourist] who would be so controversial that it would be an insult to the other partners to fly them because of some behavioural background that was considered distasteful.”

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

The United Nations last week identified Chernobyl as being an eco-tourism venue of the future. Wildlife has started to come back to the area after the terrible radioactive contamination. Moose, red deer, beavers and lynx have all been spotted in the woods along with flowers and birds. Would you go?

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK is advising against all travel to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Yemen until further notice. Reprisals are also feared against Western travellers in other parts of the world including the Chechen Republic, East Timor, Indonesia, Macedonia, Somalia, the West Bank and parts of Albania.

FCO Website.

According to Alt Wire OmPlace, bad news could come to Machu Picchu. There is a proposal to build a funicular from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu to make the site more accessible and increase the average visitor rate from 2000 to 8000/day. UNESCO and other groups are lobbying to block the construction, which would cut a swath of rainforest down the mountain significantly deteriorating the view. Anyone remember the Celestine Prophecy? Source: omplace.com/